Shackleton, Ernest

FIRST EDITION, 4to (260 x 190mm.), 94 printed leaves (including the coloured title-page and 11 illustrations), bound by Bernard Day in original venesta boards taken from expedition packing crates, inside lower cover stencilled "PETIT POIS", backed with leather from horse harnesses, title and penguin motif blindstamped on spine, sewn with green silk binding cord, edges uncut as issued, expert repairs to joints by Brockman Bookbinders

Acquired in the late 1960s by the husband of the present owner

Rosove 304.A1.b; Spence 1095; Taurus Collection 60

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN ANTARCTICA. “THE MOST RENOWNED TITLE IN THE ANTARCTIC CANON” (Taurus). The book is also a celebrated rarity. According to Murray and Marston’s Antarctic Days, at most 100 copies were produced, but Rosove notes that “approximately sixty-five copies have been accounted for to date."

That such a beautiful book should be produced by amateurs, and under such testing conditions, is remarkable. Murray and Marston describe one of the main stumbling-blocks of Antarctic printing:

“It is too cold to keep the printer’s ink fluid; it gets sticky and freezes. To cope with this a candle was set burning underneath the plate on which the ink was. This was all right, but it made the ink too fluid, and the temperature had to be regulated by moving the candle about.”

Reflecting the expedition's actual provisions, the contents of the original packing crates are stencilled on the inside of the venesta covers. This copy has a letter "S" on the inside upper cover and "PETIT POIS" on the lower cover.

Included with this lot is an illustrated "Souvenir of lecture: Nearest the South Pole, by Sir Ernest Shackleton," (8vo, in original wrappers; slightly marked), together with a matt silver-print cabinet card of Shackleton by Thomson of New Bond Street and a glossy real photograph postcard of Shackleton, also by Thomson.